Spirited Back
by Frozen to the bone
Summary: It's been seven years. Chihiro is now a seventeen year old collage student, who remembers nothing of her adventure in the bathhouse. So what happens when she accidentally goes back? Chaos of course! Lin, Haku and Yubaba will now have to help Chihiro regain her memory of being Sen with the help of everyone in the bathhouse and not only. Something ought to go wrong, right?
1. Who are you really?

**Hey y'all! So I wanted to do this for a long time since I wanted to know how it would end up if everyone in the bathhouse grew up. Like, Haku is now 20! And Chihiro is a hormone raging teenager! Such fun! Enjoy!**

Chihiro sat in the plastic chair outside her house. Her collage friends had come over for the summer. The guys were playing netball, the girls sitting and drinking juice. The house was free since her parents had gone for a vacation to Brazil. But Chihiro felt weird. She wasn't exactly sad but there was a weird longing in her heart ever since she came back home. It had been _exactly_ seven years since Chihiro moved to her house, so she thought she just missed her old friends, even though they were all seventeen now, like her, and probably didn't even remember her. Chihiro closed the book she was attempting to read.

'I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in time for the barbeque.' She announced, scraping her long, brown hair in a bun and shaking her head with a smile when her friends offered to go with her. She wanted to be alone. Maybe walking would get rid of that feeling.

She walked farther then she ever had. She knew a lot of the forest that stood at the edge of her blue house but she never went farther then the shrines her mom had once said little spirits lived in. During her walk, Chihiro wandered about the day she moved to her house. She was only ten and it was long ago but she remembered stopping at a strange, abandoned theme park with her parents and after that – nothing. Lost in thought, she walked farther and farther into the forest until she didn't know where she was. Unconcerned, Chihiro continued walking until she spotted something. There was a freaky, grey stone statue of a frog like man with a wide mouth standing in front of a tunnel. Chihiro blinked. Wasn't this the entrance to the theme park? It sure felt familiar.

Chihiro shivered when the wind hit her, as if propelling her forward. Taking a deep breath she entered the tunnel which was so dark she couldn't see her hand if she stretched it in front of her face. Maybe walking through it would get rid of that feeling? On the other side, it was a completely different world. The tunnel behind her was painted orange, with some kind of a tower on top. There were green, rolling hills blooming with flowers and tiny houses dotting the horizon. If Chihiro stood on the balcony of her house she could see this place – but it always seemed less vast and she didn't remember the cluster of stalls that separated her from what was farther out. Chihiro didn't believe in magic and yet she felt as if she was there for a reason. Chihiro squared her shoulder and walked forward, past the empty stalls and out onto the hills. The wind was there; cool but not cold on her face and a pleasant relief from the sun beating down on her back. The girl let her eyes fall shut and stretched her hands out, letting herself relax.

That is, until her foot slipped.

'AHHH!' Chihiro screamed when she tumbled down, landing hands first in an ankle deep stream. She winced when the cold water hit her scraped knee. She was about to go back when she looked up. In front of her was a bridge. It was empty but looked well kept. And on the other side of the bridge was a house. As if in a trance Chihiro moved forward, towards the bridge. She was sure there was no house this big in this area and yet there it stood, right in front of her house. Slowly she stroked a finger along the sun heated red rail of the bridge and walked forward, towards the house. Maybe it was an abandoned swimming pool? Maybe not.

'OH MY GOD!' Chihiro screamed again and took a quick step back. In front of her, jumping a foot in the air was a strange little toad with a pointy hat.

'Sen!' The toad said. 'It's Sen! How have you been Sen?'

'W-what?' Chihiro took another step back. 'I-I'm not Sen! I'm Chihiro!'

'But Sen…' The toad jumped towards her. Chihiro looked over her shoulder, panicked, and her eyes widened when she realised the stream she'd fallen into had now changed into a full fledged river. The sky was no longer a summer blue but slowly turning dark, night falling rapidly. She couldn't see the other side of the river, the tunnel, her house…nothing.

'Where am I?' She croaked.

'Why, the bathing house for the spirit.' The Toad said in a _duh_ tone. 'Here, let me take you to Yubaba.' The Toad hopped closer again. Chihiro did the only thing she thought of as reasonable in that situation; she smacked the toad out of the air and following her instincts ran, down the side of the bathhouse, not even hesitating before going down the many, many stairs. Finally, at the bottom of the stairs she stopped, heaving slightly. She ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath.

'It's okay Chihiro. Calm down. You have to find a way out' She told herself.

Slowly, she extended her hand towards the only doors around. As soon as she opened the doors hot air hit her face. She peered inside and noticed a large oven, with blazing fire. Silently she stepped inside, closing the doors quietly behind her. She promised herself she wouldn't scream, even when she saw the strange man with a huge moustache, sunglasses and half a dozen hands. Somehow she wasn't scared of him; she felt like she knew him. Behind the man were shelves upon shelves with mysterious content. The floor was littered with a few hundred tiny suds that each carried a black coal towards the oven.

'Um…excuse me…' Chihiro spoke up, slowly walking towards the man. The man sighed, stopped whatever he was doing and started turning towards the girl.

'What is it? I don't have time tod-' He stopped. Looked her up and down. Did a double take. 'Sen! Oh my God, Sen! It's you!'

'Wha…I'm not Sen, sir! I'm Chihiro! And I wanted to ask how I can get out of here.' Chihiro said quickly but the man ignored her, ringing a bell loudly.

'LIN! Lin, come here quick!' He bellowed. The sliding doors on the other side of the room opened and an annoyed looking woman in a pink uniform stomped in, flinging her brown hair over her shoulder and placing her hands on her hips.

'What is it, Kamaji? You know I'm busy, with night on our heels and the spirits wanting a proper bath.' Lin said, annoyed. Kamaji pointed towards Chihiro. Lin stared at Chihiro for a few seconds before covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes filling with tears. In a flash she jumped on Chihiro.

'SEN! Oh my God, it's really you!' She yelled, hugging Chihiro tightly.

Chihiro blinked.

'Um, who are you?' She asked slowly. Lin pulled away quickly.

'Did you forget me already? I'm Lin, the weasel spirit. You were my assistant seven years ago when you worked in this bath house.'

'I worked here?' Chihiro looked at the ceiling, trying to remember.

'I don't think she remembers us.' Kamaji said calmly, going back to work. 'Take her to Yubaba.'

'Right' Lin smiled at Chihiro. 'Come with me. And leave your shoes and socks. You won't need them.'

**TA DAH! Tell me what y'all think! Reviews are so, so appreciated! Mwah :* **


	2. Thanks for the memories

**Yo! Sorry for not updating for ages guys! Thank you for all the reviews! Enjoy! **

Lin led Chihiro out of the hot room and Chihiro finally found the courage to speak up.

'Um, excuse me…I don't know what this place is but I think I need to get home now' she said. Lin grinned and shook her head.

'You're obviously here for a reason. If not, you would have found this place again ages ago – actually, you're not supposed to have found it at all' Lin shrugged like the idea amused her. 'Don't worry, Yubaba will tell you everything you need to know.'

'Who is this Yubaba person everyone talks about?' Chihiro asked, looking for routes to escape. These people were crazy, or playing a strange prank on her. She just had to get out…

'Yubaba runs the bath house' Lin explained. 'She's the boss. You have a long history with her, Sen.'

'My name is Chihiro' Chihiro said, starting to get angry. 'Not Sen.'

Lin shook her head apologetically. 'When you came here before Yubaba changed your name when she was employing you…it was a thing. If you're called Chihiro I wouldn't know – to me you were always Sen.'

Chihiro nodded although she didn't really understand at all.

Chihiro got lost in the maze of stairs, rooms and doors and nearly bumped into Lin when the woman stopped in front of doors with an old, gnarled hag shaped knob. Chihiro waited for Lin to knock but she didn't. She was about to speak when the knob beat her to it.

'Well, don't just stand there! This better be important!' It snapped and Chihiro yelped, stepping back. The doors opened by themselves and Lin nodded for Chihiro to follow her. The décor of the room was crazy – there were expensive materials and glistening jewels hanging off of every surface, a vibrant carpet lay on the floor and huge toys glared at her from the corners of the room. But Chihiro realised with a pang that the place wasn't as magnificent as it appeared to be – the carpet was worn out, as if no one bothered to change it. The jewels glimmered duly; the materials looked frayed at the edges. One of the windows was broken and a piece of plastic was stuck to it with ugly brown tape to keep the rain out. The place looked run down.

A tired looking HUGE woman sat behind a desk, counting out a small stack of golden pieces. She had a strange up do of grey hair, sticking out in a few places, and an old looking dress. Her makeup was slightly smudges, as if she was rubbing her eyes a lot. Her nail polish was chipped.

'Boss, I brought a guest' Lin said.

The woman, Yubaba, looked up, an annoyed look on her face. Her eyes fell on Chihiro and her face changed – from shock to disbelief to happiness to confusion.

'Chihiro…Sen…how?'

'Um, Yubaba, I, er, don't know how I got here exactly but I need to go home.' Yubaba didn't seem to be listening to her. 'Please'. Yubaba paced back and forth across the room, her huge hips swishing, her long fingernail tapping at her stubbled chin. Finally she slammed her fist into her hand, the impact causing a small explosion to erupt from her hand in a shower of sparks. Chihiro stared. It was quite peculiar.

'Of course' Yubaba whispered to herself, and then turned her wrinkled face to Chihiro, a grin in place. 'You're here to save us.'

'What?' Lin asked.

'What?' Chihiro echoed.

'The bathhouse has been falling into ruin the past few years. We've been losing customers rapidly, and God knows why. I barely have enough to pay the workers – a lot of them have left. But you,' she poked Chihiro in the stomach. 'Are here for a reason. And I think that's the reason.'

'Do you really think she'll save the bathhouse?' Lin asked a glint of hope in her voice.

Yubaba nodded. 'Definitely.'

'I just want to go home!' Chihiro exploded. 'I don't want to save this bathhouse. I don't even know you!'

Yubaba smiled. 'Oh, but you do know me' she snapped her fingers at Lin. 'Hold her down.'

Without questioning it the weasel spirit grabbed Chihiro, shoved her in a chair and held her tightly by her arms. She struggled and screeched, but Lin appeared ridiculously strong. Yubaba stood in front of Chihiro, and started making strange gestures and patterns in the air. Chihiro just about decided everyone in the bathhouse was crazy when the air around Yubaba hummed with energy. A wind picked up even though no window was open (save for the small smashed one). Yubaba's fingers glowed. She approached Chihiro.

'Now, remember' She said, pressing her finger against her forehead.

Chihiro fell and as she fell her clothes changed – she now stood in a green and white striped t-shirt, shorts and trainers. And then she was in a pink and white uniform, standing on the bridge she entered through. A boy with an Egyptian haircut was stomping towards her, looking angry.

'You shouldn't be here!' he yelled at her. She flew past him at incredible speed. She got dizzy and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she was standing in Yubaba's office – it looked far grander than before, and Yubaba herself looked more cold and cruel. She flicked her finger and Chihiro felt her mouth get closed.

'I don't want to hear such a stupid request' Yubaba said with a sneer.

Chihiro fell through the floorboards and landed, but first, in front of a pig pen. The boy was with her. He smiled at her.

'I don't remember my name, but for some reason I remember yours.'

The world seemed to be tilting and suddenly Chihiro hit the bottom of a bath with a thud. It was full of dirty, green water. Lin was screaming her name from below the bath. An old withered skull appeared out of the water and gave Chihiro a toothless grin.

'Well done' it said, swishing out of the bathhouse through an open window, the workers cheering. Chihiro felt dizzy and fell head first into the water. When she emerged from it she was laying on train tacks running through a sea. Lin was paddling away in a makeshift boat, and in front of her stood a shadow with a kabuki mask. He looked miserable, like he did something bad and just got caught. Next to him floated a tiny bird making buzzing bee noises, holding up an equally tiny purple hippo. Chihiro held tickets in her hands.

The train arrived and Chihiro sped along the tracks with it. The scene shifted and she sat at a table with what looked like Yubaba, the hippo, the bird and the shadow. Yubaba, no Zeniba, passed her a shimmering purple hair band.

'Your friends have woven it for you' she said with a kind smile.

'Thank you granny' Chihiro heard herself say. Then she was falling again, through the air, but she wasn't alone. The boy was with her, holding her hands.

'You're the Kohaku River!' tears blurred her vision and when she blinked them back she stood at the end of the bridge, looking down at the valley and the tower-tunnel farther on.

'Don't look back' she heard the boy whisper.

Chihiro sat up fast. She was back to her normal clothes, sitting in the chair with Yubaba and Lin. She remembered everything – she remembered the day she lost when she was ten and moving into her house.

'She remembers' Lin said with glee, seeing the recognition in her face.

'Well' Yubaba was clearly pleased with herself. 'What will you do then?'

'Haku' Chihiro managed. 'I need to find Haku.'

**BAM! CLIFFHANGER! Kinda :P Please review!**


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